Fifte-escape tower



(No Model.)

.S. J. PARDESSUS.

FIRE ESCAPE TOWER. No. 277,156. Patented May 8,,1883.

N. FEIERS. PhufwLilhognpllun Wishinglnfl. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SEMONJ. PARDESSUS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

Fl RE-ESCAPE TOWER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 277,156, dated May 8, 1883. Application filed February 26,1283. on) model.)

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, SEMoN JACQUES PAR- DESSUS, a citizen of the United States,residing at No.1268 Pacific street, in the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Escape Towers, (for which I have obtained no patent whatever,) of which the following is a Specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fire-proof towers, eitherindependentof or di-v rectly connected with and forming a part of the building from which it, is a means of escape in case of fire.

My objects are to provide a means of escape from every story of the building and from the roof for invalids, children, infirm persons, and others, free from staircases, landings, corners, or other obstructions, whereby people suddenly awakened and alarmedmay readily find their way out and down from a building on fire, even through darkness or smoke, without confusion or collision with firemen and others at work in arresting conflagration; and my objects are further to provide, at the same time and in the same structure, an independent avenue and means of access to and egress from the burning building for firemen and the like, separated but accessible from the escapeavenue at any time, andso ventilated that smoke cannot become dense or obstructive until, perhaps, in the last stages of the conflagiation. I attain these objects by means of the structure and arrangements shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the tower, and in part an elevation of a portion of the building associated therewith. Fig. 2

is a sectional View of the same, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the interior shaft.

Similar letters refer to similanparts throughout the several views.

As shown, the tower has only a single outer wall, W I contemplate the use of a double wall instead, with sufiicient intervening space to receive any required piping, as for gas, water, sewer, or other purposes, &c., if desired. This wall is pierced at intervals, D D, to furnish entrance from each floor of the building, and the openings may be furnished with doors D, consisting of iron plates, capable of movin g vertically, as shown, or-otherwise, as desired. The interior of the toweris d vided into two separate spiral passage-ways, P and vP, separated, say, by a low partition, A. Both of these passages are without steps, being made with a gentle incline and smooth like a floor for the purpose of avoiding as much as possible all danger of tripping when persons are fleeing from a building on fire. Stairways, landings, and steps are very dangerous under such circumstances,and I therefore entirely avoid them. The outer passage has a substantially tight or closed floor; but the inner one, for the use of firemen, &c., has an open or slatted floor to permit ventilation from the bottom to the top of the tower, in order to cause the removal of any smoke that may intrude through a casually-open door or slide,or through any cracks around the same. This open flooring may fornish a better footing to firemen or to persons going to the rescue of people in peril. The partition A being low, or not extending to the ceiling, firemen may vaultoverit, if they wish to reach the doorways D at any point for the purpose of fighting the fire by using the hose and nozzle H for throwing water through the door or through a small aperture therein, or for any other purpose.

0 is a shaft located in the center of the tower,

and may be used to contain a stand-pipe, S,

with which short lengths of hose H H are connected to furnish means for putting out the fire from the tower. p

B B are balconies, from which extensions maybe made to any adjacent doors or openings D in the tower.

O is a ventilating-dome placed upon thetower from bottom to top, and thereby keep the tower cool. I contemplate the use of the center shaft, 0, for gas, sewer, hot-air, and other pipes, as desired.

Instead of a floor made smoothfor the outer ICC ventilating flue, these holes would not be so numerous as to be objectionable by reason of the admission of smoke.

The vertical sliding doors may be made of iron, backed or filled in with cement or other fire-proof material may be balanced by weights, and also bolted in any usual way.

The shaft 0 may be made of masonry, if desired; but I prefer to provide for this part of my invention a cast-iron column, a section of which is shown in Fig. 3. Ithas upon its outside vertical dovetail grooves cast therein to receive the inner ends ofthe floor-beams, which are shaped to fit the-same, may he slipped into the grooves from above, and either there pinned after they have reached the point where they are to remain, or they may be blocked up and supported from below, as the spiral passage is constructed by means of blocks fitting the grooves. This method of construction will facilitate the work of securing the proper inclination of the passage-floor.

Through and along the spiral passage shown and described sick people may be carried readily, or even dragged withoutbeing removed from their beds. The absence of all steps, stairs, or landings, and the substitution of a regularly inclined passage will aid not only the escaping people, but also the rescuers, and give a confidence in their movements to all who may have occasion to use it which otherwise they could not have. A fertile cause of disaster in the emergencies contemplated is the tripping and falling of one person in a crowd,whereupon many, and in someinstances all, of those who come after also trip and fall but I contemplate the adaptation of the same principle, where there is abundance of room by using a series of straight inclines connected together or opening freely into each other at the ends in which a considerable portion of the advantages of my invention may be realized.

In passing up or down either of the passageways the top of the intervening partition, A, may be used as a hand-rail, by following which the whole passage may be readily traversed in safety. A rail may also be provided along the outer wall as well. The two spiral passageways lead to and open upon the roof, permitting escape in that direction or from it, as well as from below.

I claim as my invention- 1. A fire-escape tower provided with the two spiral passage-ways, P and P, separated from each other, as shown and described.

2. In a fire-escape tower provided with the two spiral passage-ways P and P, the inner passage-way, P, provided with a slatted floor, in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a fire-escape tower, the continuous spiral passage-ways P and P, in combination with the vertical shaft 0, as set forth.

SEMON J. PARDESSUS.

Witnesses JAMES A. SKILTON, W. H. MAGINNIs. 

